Suarez edges further clear of Ronaldo in European Golden Shoe race

With Real Madrid not in action, the Uruguayan pulled one more goal ahead after scoring against Norwich, while Lionel Messi and Diego Costa closed the gap to the Portuguese

Liverpool attacker Luis Suarez continues to lead the race for the European Golden Shoe with a two-goal advantage over Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, while Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has closed the gap to the top three.

Madrid were not in action over the weekend, meaning Suarez was able to pull one strike further ahead of Ronaldo thanks to his first-half goal in the 3-2 win over Norwich.

Costa’s late penalty for Atletico against Elche sees him keep pace with the top three, while Messi’s free-kick winner against Athletic Bilbao draws him back to within four goals of leader Suarez.

Players such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Diego Forlan have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons, with the Argentina international as the latest winner of the award following his 46 goals in 2012-13.

The weightings are determined by the league’s ranking on the Uefa coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league’s clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the Uefa coefficients are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Goals in all other leagues are worth one single point.

This measure has prevented players from so-called weaker leagues from winning the European Golden Shoe, since a goal scored in, for example, Armenia, Estonia or Azerbaijan, carries less weight than a goal scored in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga or the Premier League.